Major blackout in Spain due to nationwide power outage; electricity is back in nine regions

Ignacio Lillo/ SUR

Malaga

Monday, 28 April 2025, 12:54 | Updated 18:42h.

A nationwide blackout left Spain without electricity after 12.32pm on Monday 28 April. Portugal was also affected as the cut hit the entire Iberian peninsula.

A strong "oscillation" in power flow has been blamed for the massive power cut that disrupted the Monday routines of millions. That is the explanation given by the director of operations at the Spanish power network, Red Eléctrica Española (REE), Eduardo Prieto, for the power cut that is affecting almost all of Spain and Portugal. He did not explain how the "oscillation" was caused or how it led to the massive outage.

The outage affected traffic lights and phone lines, as well as rail and air transport. Drivers were encouraged not to use their cars to avoid making traffic chaos worse.

Red Eléctrica said at around 1.30pm that power was starting to be recovered in the north and south of the country.

By 2.30pm Malaga Airport, which operated on its own generators, and other areas of the city had got their power back, however the government has said that it could take six to ten hours for all areas of the country to switch back on.

The failure affected the entire Iberian peninsula (Spanish mainland and Portugal). In Malaga 112 has received an upsurge in calls because of the lack of power in thousands of homes and because traffic lights have stopped working in the streets. The police were cutting off non-priority roads to avoid accidents.

All rail transport was interrupted although hospitals continued to operate thanks to emergency generators.

Several cabinet ministers were called to an emergency meeting at La Moncloa, the Spanish prime minister's office, on Monday to study the reason for the power cut. The National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) had not ruled out a cyberattack.

Addressing the nation on Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez encouraged people to make responsible use of telecommunications as "the next few hours will be critical". He encouraged people to keep calls short and only call 112 for a real emegency.

Sánchez said that the cause of the outage had not been established. "Workers from Red Eléctrica are working to solve the problem and find out the cause of the fault," he said.

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By 6pm on Monday areas of Catalonia, Aragón, Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias, Navarra, Castilla y Léon, Extremadura and Andalucía had got their power back.